Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris Wrestle With the Idea of God
In this day and age, where we find ourselves inundated with outrage from both sides of the political spectrum it’s important to remember that there are good arguments on both sides, still. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re often responding to and debating the versions of our adversaries who lack formidability. But how does that challenge us if we genuinely want to become more fortified, articulate, and dynamic thinkers? How does that expand our understanding and make us more formidable? Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris provide a great model of two highly intelligent, non-partisan, ideological adversaries (Although they will tell you they are not loyal to any one ideology) who respect each other, but who have two entirely different views of reality and the structure of life.
Peterson, dressed in a three piece suit, hair slicked back, freshly polished brown leather shoes sits cross legged on the Vancouver stage opposite Harris, dressed ala James Bond; dark sport coat, collared shirt. The stage that night in Vancouver might as well have been a beacon of hope for all of us who value honest discourse. The intent? Pushing our understanding of life forward through truth. No holds barred, no punches pulled. No tribalism, no partisanship, no loyalty to an identity, just real conversation. Sadly, honest conversation is becoming a relic of the past. So, when we witness it, even through a tab open on Google Chrome, we must take note and strive to replicate it. And spread it. The following is an abbreviated summary of each man’s position on whether or not we can use facts in order to generate values, absent religious texts and themes. Furthermore, do religious texts do more harm than good? Harris argues yes.
Link to the debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEf6X-FueMo
Link to Jordan Peterson’s Youtube Page https://www.youtube.com/user/JordanPetersonVideos
Link to Sam Harris’s Youtube Page https://www.youtube.com/user/samharrisorg
Sam Harris’s argument is that the idea of God isn’t necessary for human flourishing and happiness. His belief is that through the use of empirically derived and observable facts that we can all agree upon a common morality, and progress towards the “good life” can be achieved through these means. Essentially, God isn’t real and acting as if he is or genuinely believing in his existence does the world more harm than good. (ex. through fundamentalist wars like Israel v. Palestine)
Jordan Peterson’s position is that people like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins dismiss God only after attributing to him the characteristics that people at say, the Westboro Baptist Church would give him: He created the world 4000 years ago. It took him 7 literal days. And he hates homosexuals.(to name a few) Peterson’s claim is that Harris doesn’t contend with God in his most formidable form: that he may or may not be THE inspiration behind the most useful stories and lessons in the history of mankind and that without these sets of stories eventually, the world will descend into nihilism and darkness and there will inevitably be a repeat of the genocides of the last century. Think Auschwitz, the Soviet Gulags.
My argument is, while Harris is an extremely gifted orator and scientist, and I commend him for not letting political correctness or any loyalties to political factions shape his words, he doesn’t contend with the fact that there are too many examples of godless, leftist governments that end up creating hell on earth in short time, to buy his claim that we can derive our own morality, if left to ourselves. I believe Peterson beautifully articulates the utility of the Biblical narratives in particular and makes a strong case for at least the idea of God, through his reasoning.(He admits that he doesn’t necessarily believe in a metaphysical God, but that he lives as though he does)
But, ultimately God cannot be proven through demonstrable, logical methods, even though we have the 20th century as evidence of what will happen if we act as if he does not exist. Hitler persecuted the church and drove if out of the public sphere and into the gas chambers. Stalin nearly eradicated the Russian orthodox church. Just because the biblical stories are useful for human flourishing doesn’t prove his existence, from a scientific point of view. But, neither can he be disproved. As people who deeply care for the future our children will have to contend with, we need look no further than the past century to find out what happens when socialist, godless government prevails. That should at least point us in the proper direction.
Follow Jared on Twitter at @jtwalls7
